From Shame To Sin - [Mark 6:14-29]

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In 2016, there was a survey that was conducted by Lifeway Research, and what they wanted to do was they wanted to kind of get to the heart of the
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American Christian psyche. And during this survey, they asked people some questions that were designed to really get to their innermost being, to reveal who they really were, the kinds of things they really valued, and what really drove them.
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They asked people about the directions of their lives and the things that they valued most and things that they wanted. And one of the questions was, what are you the most afraid of?
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What feelings do you avoid the most? Was it death? Was it the feeling of loss, of losing someone?
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What about the feeling of assurance? This is, after all, Lifeway Research and looking at American Christians, what about the fear of not having assurance of salvation?
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Sixty -nine percent of the responders said that, above all else, the feelings that they sought to avoid were feelings of guilt, or worse, feelings of shame.
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Now what's the difference between them? Guilt is a negative evaluation of a behavior, I feel guilty for doing something wrong.
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Shame is all -encompassing. Shame goes down to our very core, it's a recognition or it's a belief that I didn't just do something wrong, but I am wrong.
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Sixty -nine percent of people were most afraid of feeling shame.
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Now, if you use the lens into the life of really everyone in the world, that is
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Google of course, and do a couple of searches, you'll find that that's probably not too inaccurate. Page after page of results on avoiding shame, on grappling with shame, on dealing with shame.
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Everyone here, I think, knows someone or has themselves made bad decisions because they were ashamed and they wanted to avoid the consequences of that.
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Now, sometimes shame can drive us to right thinking, we're ashamed of something and we turn away from that thing, but far too many times, maybe even most of the time, the decisions that we make to avoid those feelings or counteract those feelings are bad ones.
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Now, everyone here, I'm sure, myself included, have at some point in their Christian walk looked back on their own life and been ashamed of some of the things that we've done, right?
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We feel guilty because maybe the way we regarded the Lord in the past when, you know, even before we were
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Christians, we look back and we're like, you know, I was so dumb, I can't believe that I acted in that way, how could
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God save me, right? I think of the hymn that starts out like this, Oh, the bitter shame and sorrow that a time could ever be when
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I let the Savior's pity plead in vain and proudly answered, all of self and none of thee.
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All of self and none of thee. So in today's passage, we're going to look at a man who has done exactly that, who has had that perspective, all of self and none of thee.
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And what we'll do, we'll take a look at his guilty conscience and we'll see that because of that conscience, because of the shame that he felt, he committed a grievous sin.
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And then we'll look in contrast at someone else who responded rightly to shame and reveled in the glories of our
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Creator. So my goal for you today is to see these two biblical examples and from this, and from this contrast, see the right responses to these feelings of guilt.
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We're going to look at a few passages today, but ultimately it's all going to come from an exposition of the narrative we find in Mark chapter six.
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So if you'll turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter six, our focus is going to be on verses 14 to 29, it is a narrative after all, but we'll start in verse 12 for a little bit of context.
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Mark 6, 12. So they, the disciples went out and proclaimed that people should repent and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil, many who were sick and healed them.
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King Herod heard of it for Jesus name had become known. Some said, John the Baptist has been raised from the dead.
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That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him. But others said he is Elijah and others said he is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.
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But when Herod heard of it, he said, John, whom I beheaded has been raised for.
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It was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother, Philip's wife, because he had married her.
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For John had been saying to Herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, but she could not.
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For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man and he kept him safe.
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But when he heard him, he was greatly perplexed and yet he heard him gladly. But an opportunity came when
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Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. For when
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Herodias, his daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. Look what he says to look what
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Herod says to her. And the king said to the girl, ask me for whatever you wish and I will give it to you.
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And he vowed to her, whatever you ask me, I will give to you up to half of my kingdom. And she went out and said to her mother,
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Herodias. For what should I ask, what do you think she said? And she said the head of John the
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Baptist, and she came in immediately with haste to the king and saying, I want you to give me the head of John the
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Baptist on a platter. And the king was exceedingly sorry because but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to break his word to her.
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And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl and the girl gave it to her mother.
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When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
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Now, let's set the scene. This is Herod Antipas. He's the son of Herod the
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Great. And if you think of the Herodians, the Herodian dynasty, I kind of look at them as like the
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Kennedys of ancient Israel, right? There's a lot of them and they kind of spread around and there's a lot of brothers and sisters and relatives and all these things.
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They were Edomites or Edomians. They were the descendants of Esau. And Herod the
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Great is the Herod that we see in the nativity when we hear about Herod and the census and all and all of these things.
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The king who sent the wise men, that was Herod the Great. He died soon after the birth of Jesus and his will was such that one of his sons would become the king and some of his other sons, including
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Herod Philip and Herod Antipas, this man, would become Tetrarchs. So there were these four sections and there were these sort of under rulers ruling a section of the kingdom.
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Herod Antipas, who we will affectionately refer to as our Herod, was granted rule over Galilee and Perea.
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Of course, just to make this more complicated, this is different from the Herod in Acts 12, who is Herod Agrippa. And later in Acts 25 is a different Herod Agrippa, who is the son of the first Herod Agrippa.
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So there's lots of them. This is why I refer to them, of course, as the Kennedys of Israel. But as we focus on this
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Herod, on Herod Antipas and what's happening in this passage, we're going to look at this chronologically. We're going to break it down into three parts.
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There's the act that occurred. There's the heart of Herod, and then there's the mind of Herod.
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And so when we look at the act, our passage actually looks back at the act that occurred.
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And so even though our passage starts in verse 14, 12 or 14, we're going to look starting in verse 17, because chronologically, that's the first thing that has happened.
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Verse 17, for it was Herod who had sentenced John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother
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Philip's wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.
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And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe.
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When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. John is imprisoned right at the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry.
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We see it briefly in the book of Mark, and then we also see it in Luke chapter 3. But just imagine what the tension would be like in the palace, right?
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This weekend, everybody's thinking about castles and palaces and weddings. This is a weird castle. This is a weird palace and a really weird wedding.
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Imagine what's happening here. So Herod has taken his brother's wife as his own. His brother's not dead. He took his brother's wife as his own.
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And John the Baptist spoke out against that. And so Herodias, this new wife, wanted him killed.
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Well, Herod was afraid of John. But he feared the retribution of John's disciples if he had him killed.
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And he liked to hear John speak, even though it was difficult for him. And so he takes
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John. He has John arrested and basically hidden in a prison somewhere so that Herodias can't get to him.
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This is a messed up marriage. John can't expand his influence, good for Herod, but Herodias can't get to him, bad for Herodias.
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And this is really the interesting thing. I think it's really easy for us when we look at scripture to say, oh, this is black and white.
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This thing is absolutely universally 100 % terrible. And we can condemn it in the strongest possible words. And this thing over here is wonderful and magnificent.
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Herod struggled with his sin. Right? We see this. He heard the preaching and the teaching of John.
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And he knew it was right. He knew John was righteous and holy. It says that in the text. Herod wasn't a
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Jew, but he was ruling over Jewish provinces. He would have been familiar with Jewish law. He would have recognized that what
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John the Baptist was saying was consistent with the book of Leviticus in 18 and 20. This isn't a surprise for us.
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Romans 1 tells us that the unbeliever knows that there is a God and suppresses his knowledge in what? In unrighteousness.
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And when he heard John, the text says he was greatly perplexed.
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Right? That word there that means greatly perplexed is to mean like uncertain or to be at a loss.
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Right? That's the feeling that you have when a parent or a teacher or a boss chastises you for something and you know they're right.
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And you kind of want to say something, but you kind of know you can't because you know they're right. So you're just kind of at a loss.
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That's that word there. It's the same feeling you have kind of in the pit of your stomach when you're driving along and the light turns red, turns yellow.
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Right? And you're like, oh, I can make it. And the light turns blue, turns red. And then you look in the rearview mirror and instead of yellow or red, well,
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I gave it away. You see blue lights instead. So when you pull over and the police officer comes up and says, oh, you know why
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I pulled your, I think I know. Right? That feeling that I know you're right. Greatly perplexed.
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Herod knew when he heard John's words that John was right. It's in the imperfect, which means that he stayed that way.
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He stayed perplexed. He stayed troubled. He mulled over his sin. He ruminated over his sin.
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He felt bad. He felt guilty. He was pulled back and forth by this guilt and his lust for Herodias.
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He liked her. And that's something that I think that we can understand. Right? We look at this passage and we think about, in this case, like this thing is terrible.
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This is horrible. We would never do that. Herod is this terrible, awful guy. He took his brother's wife, who was already an extended cousin.
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So that's super weird. I mean, it's easy for us to look at this and just kind of write it off and say, like, this is terrible.
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It's like when you buy a house and there's so many zeros, you really can't fathom how bad it, like, you just can't deal with it.
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But it's really no different. Herod, when he's confronted with what he should do, is troubled.
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This is not an unknown struggle. If you're living with your boyfriend or your girlfriend and you're confronted and you struggle with that, it's the same thing.
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If you're forsaking the local assembly, not serving the body, not honoring the Lord, not praying enough, serving enough, preaching the gospel enough.
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When you're confronted with these things, it's hard. It's difficult. Your conscience is pricked.
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You ruminate over that sin. That is exactly what Herod is doing here. We all do this. You are no different.
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You are no better than Herod. Neither am I. But the damning truth for Herod isn't just that he sinned, but that his struggle did not reveal fruit in his life.
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In fact, this struggle not only didn't reveal fruit, but it led to further acts of cowardice.
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We see it here in verse 21. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
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For when Herodias' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to her, girl, ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.
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And he vowed to her, whatever you ask of me, I will give you up to half of my kingdom. There is no dance, by the way, that would convince me to give up half of everything that I own to someone.
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It would never happen. And she went out and said to her mother, for what should
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I ask? And she said, the head of John the Baptist. And she came in immediately with haste and said to the king, asking, saying,
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I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter. And the king was exceedingly sorry. But because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to break his word to her.
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And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He went in and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
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And the girl gave it to her mother. Now, I don't know whose birthday party calls for a head on a platter, but Herod has problems.
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I don't understand. He didn't even have a kingdom to give, right?
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He was a Tetrarch. He was an under ruler. But it didn't matter.
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It wasn't riches or power that Salome, the daughter of Herodias, asked for. It was the head of John the
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Baptist. And so as the narrative plays out, Herod caves under social pressure and relents to the request of Salome.
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And John the Baptist is beheaded. Now, let's stop for a minute.
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And let's think about this request. It would have been really easy for Herod to say no, right?
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He could say something like, well, I would give you anything you ask, but you're asking me to commit a crime. He could defer to,
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I don't know, Roman rule, indicate his inability to comply. Well, we haven't brought this man up for trial.
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We can't do that. He had many avenues to get out of this gruesome request, and yet he doesn't take any of them.
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No, instead, he has John executed ostensibly against his wishes, which I don't really think it was, as if to sort of suggest that his hands are clean.
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But we know, of course, that they're not. Commentator says, this promise was rashly made and could not bind him to do an unrighteous thing.
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Sinful oaths must be repented of and therefore not performed, for repentance is the undoing of what we have done amiss as far as is in our power.
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When Theodosius the emperor was urged by a suitor with a promise, he answered, I said it, but I did not promise it if it were to be unjust.
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Does this sound familiar? We'll put it in the common vernacular, right?
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You're asked to do something that you know probably isn't the best idea, and I don't know, shooting squirrels out of Pastor Mike's trees.
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Well, he might like that, but who knows? And you get caught doing it, right? What's the response?
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Oh, it's not my fault. You know, Luke asked me to do it. Do I allude to Luke Adollar now? Okay, it's credit for this morning.
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It's not my fault. They asked me to do it, right? This is the mental machinations of Herod here.
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My hands are tied. I made an oath. I cannot dishonor my guests, right? It's true, and as much as these guests could be important, it says in verse 21, his nobles and his military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
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These are exactly the people that Herod would want to look important in front of. These are the people he would want to impress.
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And so he kind of passes the guilt buck, if only for a moment, to Herodias and her daughter and orders the execution of John.
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That's the act. That's what happened, right? That's what we see in verses 17 and following, and now we can take a look at the heart and how his heart responds to that act.
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Here, we'll go back to verse 12. And so they, the disciples, they were sent out by Jesus.
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So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil.
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Many who were sick and healed them. King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some said John the
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Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him. And others said it is Elijah.
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And others said he is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old. But listen to this. But when Herod heard it, he said,
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John, whom I beheaded, has been raised. Even though he was wrong,
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Herod's certainty that Jesus was a resurrected John the Baptist could not provide a more transparent look at his heart.
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Much like he knew when confronted with it that there was something wrong with his marriage to Herodias, he knew
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John's execution was sinful. He knew it. And even though he tried to pawn off responsibility on his oaths and on his guests, he knew in his heart that John's blood wasn't anywhere but on his hands.
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Just like, I use a lot of police analogies. Just like when you're driving 67 miles an hour on the highway and the police cruiser comes screaming up behind you and you see it in the rearview.
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What do you do? If you're like me, even though you're going one mile an hour over the speed limit, your heart jumps up in your throat, you have this moment of paranoia, and you are convinced that you're going to get pulled over.
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I'm caught. My insurance premiums are going to go through the roof. These are the things that I think about at 67 miles an hour.
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Herod hears about Jesus. His hands get clammy. He begins to sweat and he comes to the inevitable conclusion that this is
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John the Baptist resurrected and Herod is dust. Commentator again, a guilty conscience needs no accuser or tormentor but itself.
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Herod charges himself with the murder of John, which perhaps no one else dared charge him with. I beheaded him, he said, and the terror of it made him imagine that Christ was
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John risen. He feared John while he lived, and now when he thought he had got clear of him, fears him 10 times worse when he is dead.
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One might as well be haunted with ghosts and furies as with the horrors of an accusing conscience. This is the image of King Claudius consumed with the guilt of killing his brother, longing for forgiveness but unwilling to give up what he has gained as a result of his sin.
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Romans tells us that all of creation can testify to the existence of God. For his invisible attributes,
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Romans 1 .20, namely his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.
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So they are without excuse. Herod knew not perfectly, of course, in his heart right and wrong.
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John the Baptist had preached directly to Herod, teaching him right and wrong, teaching him the necessity for forgiveness of sins.
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We saw in the passage the interplay between John the Baptist and between Herod. Herod's struggle over sin showed that he understood righteousness, otherwise he wouldn't struggle with his sin.
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But he didn't submit to it. And we see with this passage, with what he did, that his heart was wicked.
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He knew that even though he didn't swing the axe, he was responsible for the death of John the Baptist.
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Another commentator said that Herod's response was the answer of his morbid, feverish imagination influenced by a guilty conscience.
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John whom I beheaded. So we've seen the act, the murder of John the
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Baptist, the execution of John the Baptist. And now we've looked at the heart of Herod, the guilty conscience for what he had done.
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And now let's look at the mind, the mind of Herod Antipas. See, we look at the heart to understand unconscious reactions, to understand visceral, subliminal responses to things.
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And that's why it's often so intense, because it's part of who we are at our core. But we look at the mind to understand craft, and to understand measured intention.
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From this we may gather that man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.
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Man's mind is full as it is of pride and boldness, dares to imagine a god according to its own capacity.
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As it sluggishly plods, indeed it is overwhelmed with the crassest ignorance, it conceives an unreality and an empty appearance as God.
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Calvin's Institutes. We've all heard this distilled down to the simple idea that the heart is an idol factory, right?
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We've heard that before, the heart is an idol factory. And it's true that the human heart is desperate to worship something, right?
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But it's the mind that crafts the idols for the heart. It's the mind that is so easily deceived.
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It is the mind that Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians that is blinded by the god of this world. After this narrative, we don't see
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Herod a lot in the Gospels. Only occasionally. There are touch points. Luke 13. At that very hour, some
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Pharisees came and said to Jesus, get away from here for Herod wants to kill you. That's the mind of Herod.
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But Herod does eventually achieve his lifelong goal of meeting Jesus. During his trial,
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Jesus' trial, according to Luke 23. You can turn there if you want to. Luke 23, beginning in verse 6.
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You can see an interesting scene play out. When Pilate heard this, that Jesus was teaching in Galilee, he asked whether the man was the
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Galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.
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When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad. For he had long desired to see him because he had heard about him.
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And he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length.
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But he, Jesus, made no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.
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And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.
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And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day. For before this, they had been at enmity with each other.
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Jesus has brought them together. It is remarkable as you look at scripture to see the weaving together of the lives of John the
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Baptist and Jesus Christ. From, I mean, John's reaction in the womb to his active ministry as a forerunner for Jesus.
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It's incredible to see this plan work out in such a way that Christ is so clearly, really foreshadowed in John the
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Baptist, right? Both men preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Both men were at the mercy of a weak, facile leader who didn't have the stomach to take responsibility for their charge.
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Just like Herod passed the buck to Siloam and Herodias, Pilate sought to pass the buck to Herod.
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That's why he sent him to Herod. And then, failing that, he passed the buck to the crowds. Both men were executed innocent of whatever crime it was they were supposedly guilty of.
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Herod presumed that Christ was John the Baptist. And now, here, we see the opportunity for Herod to repent to the very man he falsely presumed was
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John resurrected, right? This is full circle. He's got his chance right here, right now.
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He knew Jesus to be a righteous man, just like he knew John was a righteous man. Herod had heard all about Jesus Christ and what he had done.
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But what did he want? He sought a sign. There was no repentance. There was no contrition. Hendrickson says,
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Jesus as a prisoner is being brought before the impenitent, restless, inquisitive, superstitious
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Herod Antipas. The latter is still as wicked as he was before. Though he had been repeatedly warned, there is no evidence whatever of even an inkling of repentance.
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He simply wants to be entertained by Jesus. He's hoping to see him perform a miracle. Christ, unlike every interaction before this one, refuses to answer even a single question of Herod's.
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He will not cast his pearls before this man. And finally, giving up on his show,
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Herod unleashes his hatred and vitriol and mocks Jesus and disparages Jesus.
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Once again, Herod is cherishing the cheers of the crowd instead of the righteousness of Jesus.
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His heart and his mind are dead set on sin and self, and nobody, not even
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Jesus Christ, will sway him. And so these two fickle leaders become fast friends.
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So what about you? When you wrestle with sin in your life, because you will, I will, what is your response?
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Is your conscience so seared that you're willing to cast aside your guilt for the pleasures of the world?
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Fortunately for us, Herod is not the example to which we should look. And we have a better example even in scripture that we can look to.
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In fact, in the pages of the Old Testament, we can find the words of a man who, just like Herod, was in a position of power.
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Just like Herod, this man fell into sin. Just like Herod, he sinned with another man's wife.
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And just like Herod, he orchestrated events so that someone would surely die. There may not be a parallel in scripture to the sins of Herod than the sins of King David.
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And yet, we look at these two men very, very differently. Faced with conviction and guilt for the sins that he committed,
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Herod's heart was hardened and his sin grew. Faced with conviction and guilt for the sins he committed,
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David's heart was broken and he repented to God. When we look at the life of Herod Antipas, there's so many things that he could have done differently, even if the situations were the same.
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He could have pursued righteousness, but he didn't. He could have defended John, but he didn't. He could have refused
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Salome's request, but he didn't. When he was faced with the opportunity to be a hero of the faith and to further the gospel, and he had that opportunity many times, even in the face of Jesus Christ, he instead chose carnal pleasures and honor from men.
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From the mouth of Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 6 comes the condemnation of the very things Herod Antipas celebrated.
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But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
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Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
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Herod turned his back on John, he turned his back on Jesus, and now he stands condemned.
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On the contrary, let's look at King David and see how King David responds.
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Turn with me, if you will, to Psalm 32, where we'll spend most of the rest of our time.
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Psalm 32. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
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Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
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For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
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For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
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I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity. I said I will confess my transgressions to the
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Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.
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Surely in the rush of great waters they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me.
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You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
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I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding, which must be curved by bit or by bridle, or it will not stay near you.
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Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. Be glad in the
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Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy all you upright in heart.
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For Herod the act was the execution of John the Baptist. For David it was adultery with Bathsheba and the plan that murdered
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Uriah. For Herod the heart reaction was one of guilt and paranoia.
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For David his heart reaction was one of guilt and of deep sadness. But while Herod's mind crystallized that guilt into hatred for Jesus Christ and ultimately mockery,
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David's mind focused on repentance, seeking forgiveness, and correcting his behavior through the power of God.
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In this psalm we see immediately relief that Herod never had. Herod never experienced forgiveness and he was never relieved of the crushing guilt that became hatred.
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Paul even quotes this when he says in Romans, To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
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Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works.
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Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the
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Lord will not count his sin. And is not this a critical piece of the gospel message?
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This is righteousness apart from works. This is the salvific work of Jesus Christ. And as David writes of opening his heart and confessing his sin to God, he leaves us with instructions to how we are to wrestle with sin in our lives.
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This is instruction that Herod would have had access to. And he should have heeded it, but he didn't.
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So, four things. When we are faced with sin and the consequences of that, what are you to do? It's directly out of Psalm 32.
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Number one, you must confess your sin. It begins with a description.
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For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.
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My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. When you hear people talk about depression and of guilt, they talk about how it feels like a weight on your chest.
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It feels like you're wearing one of those x -ray lead vests and then another one on top and another one on top of that.
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That's what depression and guilt feels like. It's this weight on you and that's exactly what he's talking about.
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Your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up. That is guilt. But, verse five,
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I acknowledged my sin to you and I did not cover my iniquity. I said,
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I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. And you forgave the iniquity of my sin. The Lord knows what you've done.
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Jesus knows what you have done. But we are commanded to confess. Confession is the right way of recognizing his righteousness and your sinfulness.
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And confession puts you in a right position before a just and holy God, one of humility and contrition.
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You must confess your sin. Number two, you are to go to the
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Lord in prayer. Verses six and seven, Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.
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Surely in the rush of great waters they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me.
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You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of deliverance. Is it not true that if you haven't repented of your sin and you try to pray?
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This is odd, almost. You try to go to the Lord in prayer and you haven't confessed and it's just hard.
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You just can't pray. I mean, it doesn't feel right. There's a disconnect there.
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But when you have confessed your sin and you have full open communion with him, how sweet is that time of prayer?
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That you know that you can rest in him. You can pray to Jesus without hindrance because of the gap that he has bridged for us.
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With an open and humble heart, communion with him is sweet. You must go to the Lord in prayer.
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He is a hiding place for us. He preserves us. He surrounds us with shouts of deliverance.
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So you are to confess your sins to him. You're to go to him in prayer. Number three, to be humble in the
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Lord. To submit to him and to trust in him. Verses nine and ten, Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
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Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the
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Lord. Everyone will submit on that day, right?
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Everyone will bow the knee on that day. But if you only submit when you are forced to, like a horse or a mule without understanding, it betrays your heart.
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As Christians, it is so important, so imperative to look to the Lord and desire and work to be more like him.
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That is sanctification, right? God changes our hearts to want these things. And it is so important for us to desire and work to be more like him.
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You must trust his word. You must trust his direction as he leads you through the scriptures, through pastors, through elders, through disciples.
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It is so important to trust in that instruction. And finally, because this is not merely a list of onerous commands, you are to have joy and rejoice in the
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Lord. I can barely read verse 11 here without smiling. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
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We are all sinners, and yet we are forgiven in him. How incredible is that?
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How awesome is that, to be forgiven? How can you be anything other than filled with joy to know that despite your sin, despite your iniquities, if you come to the
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Lord in humility, earnestly and honestly confessing your sins to him and desiring to submit to his will and to obey him, he is faithful and just to forgive you.
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This transition in this psalm, in these 11 verses, from crushing guilt, verse 1, to joy in the
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Lord, verse 11, is not reserved just for David. It is an image for us. It is a pattern of repentance that you must have, that I must have.
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And it is a pattern that indeed we did not see in Herod. Number one, to confess our sins.
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Number two, to go to the Lord in prayer. Number three, to be humble and obedient. Number four, to be joyful in the
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Lord. Do you have that joy? Do you know the
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Lord Jesus Christ? Do you confess your sin to him? David knew his creator.
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He was given eyes to see the glories of God and how he must respond to them. And he responded rightly to his conviction.
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You don't have to be crushed by guilt the way Herod was. You don't need to bear the weight of your sins forever.
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We understand right and wrong because we're created to understand right and wrong. But there is one lawgiver and judge who defines those things,
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God the Father and his law. It's written on our hearts. There is forgiveness available to you no matter what those sins are that you've committed.
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And that forgiveness is found in one man, Jesus Christ. You can be in the one who didn't just endure shame, but he despised it.
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We saw that in our reading. He despised the sinfulness of man. He had the righteousness of God because he was
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God. And we can be forgiven in him and by him. Looking at the life and trials of Jesus Christ, we see the entire world with very few exceptions turned their back on him.
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Herod certainly did. Do you? There is forgiveness found in Jesus Christ.
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He was righteous and perfect. Herod and Pilate could find no fault in him. Why? Because there was no fault in him.
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And yet for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the guilt or the shame.
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He was crucified on a cross and he died for our sins. For the sins of many.
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He died for man's sins because he was a man, but he died for men's sins because he was God and is
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God. He paid the penalty for the sins of those whom he would call his brothers and his sisters.
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And God the Father accepted that sacrifice. And we know that because he was resurrected and sits at his right hand.
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Herod feared the resurrection of John the Baptist strongly, but we delight in a truly resurrected
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Messiah. Do you know him? Do you find joy in him?
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There is no fear of guilt and shame because we are free in Christ Jesus, who abolished those things.
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I truly pray and hope that you do know the love of Jesus Christ, and that he would be the focus of your life, and that your song would be one of praise to him.
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And just like the hymn that I opened this message with, I'll sing. Oh, I will not sing.
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I will read to you the last verse of that song. Higher than the highest heavens, deeper than the deepest sea,
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Lord, thy love at last hath conquered. Grant me now my heart's petition, none of self and all of thee.
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None of self and all of thee. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, you are a mighty, mighty
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God. Powerful, righteous, earnest to save those who would submit to your will.
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I pray, God, that even as we come together tonight, if there is anyone here who does not know you, Father, that you would open their hearts, that you would soften their hearts.
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Soft hearts love hard words. God, as we consider sin this week, and we will all wrestle with sin this week,
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I just pray that you would keep in our minds the necessity to respond, not like Herod did, but like David did.
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Asking for forgiveness in prayer to you. Desiring to become more like you,